With lots of luck and good lawyers, victims of accused swindler Bernard Madoff might someday win only pennies for each dollar they lost – but they stand to reap possible millions right away in windfall tax-breaks.

Experts say tax rules allow taxpayers to write off losses from theft, such as those alleged in the Ponzi scheme admitted to by Madoff, who’s lost investors billions, and may have cost the Internal Revenue Service $17 billion in lost tax revenue.

A well-to-do investor taken in by Madoff’s alleged scam, for example, could offset gains earned in other capital gains, and could likely deduct such losses from other ordinary income going back two years. In the event of huge losses, any unused theft losses could be spread over 20 years to reduce tax liabilities.

“It’s unlikely investors will recover much more than just pennies on the dollar in the coming years,” said Anthony Sabino, a law professor at St. John’s University. “We expect most investors would take advantage of the tax write-offs right away, and then worry about recovering anything down the road.”

The tax code generally limits theft loss deductions to 10 percent of overall income of that year.